Alright, so I have been very, very lazy about blogging for the last...4 months! But I am going to try and go out as strong as I went in, so this is the catch-up post.
October: I spent three weeks traveling around the islands in the South of Thailand. I went to Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Koh PhiPhi, Koh Lanta, and Riley Beach. It was a great vacation and though I was getting sick of living out of my backpack by the end of it, I'm so glad that I did it! I think my favorite islands were Koh Tao, Koh PhiPhi, and Riley Beach (which isn't actually an island, but you still have to take a boat to get there). I did and saw a lot while down there, but some of my favorite things were the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan, lighting a lantern on Riley Beach, hiking to the lookout on Koh PhiPhi, and visiting AngThong Marine National Park on a daytrip from Koh Samui.
Here are some of the pictures that I took while I was down south.
https://picasaweb.google.com/chelsea.brasel/IslandHopping?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJydweGdmuL23gE&feat=directlink
November: After applying for a few jobs in Bangkok, I was having some trouble committing to a school without seeing it first and the flooding was also making it more difficult to secure a job. A position was still available at the school I worked at in LopBuri, so I met with the Director, Ann. I basically just had to walk into the office and she said "You can have your old job!" So that was easy. I wasn't sure if I was going to like being back at first, but it was so nice to see all the kids again. And already knowing the way the school works and what's expected of you made it a lot easier this time around, so all in all I'm glad that I ended up coming back here. I also went to Sukhothai for a night with Holly to see Loi Kratong, which is the lantern festival.
December: The second semester is not only shorter than the first, but also has twice as many holidays! We had two three day weekends in December and then a four day weekend for New Years! The first long weekend I went back to Khao Yai and did the fullday tour of the National Park, then we checked out the sunflower fields in Lopburi and the bat cave. The second long weekend I went back to Hua Hin with some friends and got a little beach time. For Christmas a group of us went to Bangkok and had a nice (expensive) Christmas buffet. Then for New Years I went to Koh Chang with some friends. It's the second biggest island in Thailand, after Phuket, and very green and lush. I had a great time lounging in hammocks and reading and we even did a zipline course, which was a lot of fun.
Pictures from Sukhothai, Khao Yai, and Lop Buri
https://picasaweb.google.com/chelsea.brasel/SukhothaiKhaoYaiLopBuri?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPyy_oWPsp-jUQ&feat=directlink
January: This month I my goal was to save some money after all the long weekends in December, and then we find out we get another three day weekend for Teachers Day! This time I didn't go anywhere far and just went to Bangkok for a night with some friends. We went to the Sky Bar, which is an open air bar on the 64th floor of the State Tower building in Bangkok. We went in the evening, but it was still amazing to see the city all lit up. Unfortunately the drinks were a little out of our price range (about $15 for a cocktail or $10 for a beer), but we did enjoy the complimentary cashew nuts :-). The next day we checked out Terminal 21, which is a new mall in Bangkok. Each floor represents a different city from around the world including; Tokyo, London, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, and San Francisco! We didn't buy anything, but it was a fun mall to walk around.
The internet is going pretty slowly, but I'll try to upload some pictures from this month soon!
